GameStop Hits 'Add To Cart' On EBAY Stock Again — Raises Exposure To Over 7% As Ryan Cohen Keeps Pressure On

• GameStop said the derivatives carry strike prices between $84.74 and $118.28 per share. 
• eBay had previously rejected GameStop’s $56 billion acquisition proposal.
• Cohen reshared a post on X questioning eBay leadership’s confidence in the company. 

The GameStop (GME) eBay (EBAY) acquisition chatter received fresh attention after the video game retailer, led by its firebrand CEO Ryan Cohen, expanded its reported economic exposure in the online marketplace company to 7.78%.

GME Steps Up EBAY Exposure 

The latest Schedule 13D filing submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revealed that the retailer now holds direct ownership of 25,000 eBay shares and has derivative-based exposure to more than 34.5 million additional shares through put/call arrangements.

The filing stated that GameStop’s combined direct and derivative-linked exposure represents about 7.78% of eBay’s outstanding common stock, based on approximately 444 million shares outstanding as of late April. This is up from GameStop’s 6.55%  exposure reported on May 20. 

GameStop disclosed that the derivative contracts involve strike prices ranging from roughly $84.74 to $118.28 per share. The company said the derivatives could later convert into physical shares if federal clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act is obtained. Until then, GameStop said it does not maintain voting authority over the underlying stock connected to those contracts. 

The company paid roughly $1.59 million in net premiums for an additional 5.43 million-share exposure tied to the newest derivatives arrangements.

The move follows GameStop’s earlier attempt to buy eBay in a deal worth about $56 billion. eBay rejected the bid, calling the offer “neither credible nor attractive.” 

GameStop stock edged 0.05% higher overnight, ahead of Friday. 

Cohen’s Unending Jibes At eBay

Cohen has been openly criticizing eBay’s operational style, calling for nearly $2 billion in annual expense reductions, including cuts to advertising, administrative operations and product development. 

On Wednesday, he reshared a post on X, criticizing eBay’s leadership for minimal insider share purchases by the company’s executives and directors over the past two decades. The post highlighted insider ownership trends and board-level confidence in the online marketplace company. The post cited data from the insider-trading tracker OpenInsider, which showed that only 14 eBay insiders collectively purchased fewer than 150,000 split-adjusted shares on the open market over the last 22 years. 

According to the claims, just two current insiders, Chairman Paul S. Pressler and Director Logan Green, remain among those buyers. The combined purchases by the two current insiders totaled slightly more than 11,000 shares.

The post also said GameStop acquired more than twice as many eBay shares on May 1, as the entire current eBay board has bought collectively using personal funds over several years.

However, analysts have raised doubts about GameStop’s plan to secure $20 billion in financing, questioning whether the company can realistically afford the deal given its market value of just about $10 billion. 

GME Retail Traders View 

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around the stock remained in ‘bearish’ territory. 

A user said, “waited 6 years for them to put my favorite store out of business. Each enemy more certain than the last…console removal of disk drives, a COVID pandemic, increased online sales…more direct to consumer…literally every single thing they said would put GameStop out of business…did not put GameStop out of business.  This eBay thing is no different. Just the next enemy to fall.”

So far this year, while GME stock has gained nearly 8%, EBAY stock has surged over 28%.

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